The present invention relates generally to an emergency window or door exit marker. More particularly this invention relates to a fire safety window or interior door marker for identifying emergency windows or door exits in the event of a fire emergency for safe escape of inhabitants therein.
Loss of life which occurs because of fire in a home or building is often caused not by the fire or flames but instead by the subsequent smoke and toxic gases that ar produced. Occupants of a building on fire are often disorientated from the smoke and are unable to find a safe exit. They often find themselves trapped in a closet, bathroom or in a corner of a room where they fall victim to smoke inhalation. The National Fire Protection Association states that if one must exit through smoke, the cleanest air will be several inches off the floor and one should crawl on their hands and knees to the nearest safe exit.
A number of devices have been disclosed for directing occupants of a building toward an exit. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,665,626 granted to Lund et al., discloses the commonly observed exit sign. The exit sign generally includes a light transmitting visual image of the word "EXIT" in capital letters with light transmitting visual images of arrows underneath pointing in the appropriate direction toward the nearest exit door or stairway. U.S. Pat. No. 2,480,584 granted to Kohlhauer et al., discloses a luminous and luminescent sign which can be adapted to display the letters "EXIT" for visually directing one to an exit. Instead of light transmitting signs, light reflective plates and composite contrast color embedded displays, U.S. Pat. No. 3,973,342 granted to Gubela and U.S. Pat. No. 3,506,528 granted to Dean, respectively, can also be configured as exit signs. So far as is known these signs are typically installed in the halls of office buildings, schools, hotels, etc., attached to the ceiling where smoke naturally rises and accumulates rendering these devices inoperable and thus ineffective during a fire.
Further, a number of fire safety escape route markers have been devised for directing occupants in a hallway to a safe exit in the event of a fire. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,586 granted to Schriever, discloses an escape route rescue system which employs a series of devices, each of which has tactile characteristics of shape and surface contacts in combination which attach to the middle and lower part of the wall to indicate direction and distance to the nearest evacuation exit. The generally arrow shaped member provides directional information and contact points provide distance information. The device is also capable of luminescence to aid in visual as well as tactile reference.
Another example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,050 granted to Britt et al., discloses a phosphorescent escape route indicator which has an adhesive back for attaching to an escape route wall above the floors and stairways. The directional indicators are shaped like arrows which project outwardly or are otherwise raised or embossed to allow the same to be felt even after the phosphorescent glow disappears.
Also of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 259,544 granted to Howard which discloses a means for facilitating speedy exit from buildings in case of fire or alarm which has a tactile means in the form of a rail for guiding a person to an exit.
In theory, these devices provides a system for directing the occupant of a burning building to a safe exit, however, they are also cumbersome and confusing. Specifically, the markers are numerous, and in the event of a real emergency the occupant would be less likely to decipher the direction or, as in Schriever, decipher the contact points determining the number of doors to the true safe exit door without undue waste of time. In the case of dense smoke, if a trapped occupant uses the markers to determine direction by touch, he or she would have to pass by the exit door in order to determine that the markers point in the opposite direction on the other side of the door, thus increasing the time one would need in order to escape. In the event of a fire emergency, every second is critical and the delay of even a split second could be fatal to the occupant trapped inside.
However, there is still a need for a simple and effective marking device for directing a trapped occupant of a bedroom, office, hospital room, hotel room, classroom, etc., of a burning structure, to a safe exit door or window whether or not there is sufficient ambient light.